February picked up where January left off in in what is shaping up as one of the snowiest, coldest winters on record in Illinois.

A mix of freezing rain and fog — with reports of occasional thunder and lightning early in the day — greeted central Illinois residents Saturday. Heavy snow in the northern third of the state created dangerous travel and forced cancellation of hundreds of flights at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.

Sunday’s Groundhog Day forecast is for sharply colder temperatures in the Springfield region with a high of 16 degrees and an overnight low tonight of 6. Daytime highs are expected to remain in the teens and 20 this week. Snow is back in the forecast on Tuesday.

The messy start to February followed the eighth-coldest January in Illinois since current records began in 1895, according to Jim Angel, climatologist with the Illinois State Water Survey.

Angel said in an online update the average 18.2-degree temperature last month tied January 1970 and January 1985 for eighth coldest. January 1977 set the standard for frigid in Illinois with an average temperature of 10.3 degrees.

“After being largely absent the past two winters,” Angel said in his online report, “below-zero temperatures were common for January 2014.”

At O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, the temperature remained below zero for 13 consecutive days. Daily lows in Chicago were below freezing (32 degrees) every day in January.

The Illinois Department of Transportation reported Saturday morning that roads and bridges were snow and ice covered in more than 50 percent of the state from the border with Wisconsin to Interstates 72.

Statewide, IDOT had more than 1,000 trucks and 1,100 employees assigned to remove snow and ice.

IDOT was advising people to travel only if necessary, and to use extreme caution.

Sangamon County Highway Engineer Tim Zahrn said his drivers were on the road at 6 a.m. Saturday spreading salt and aggregate.

Lt. Jeff Berkler of the Sangamon County Sheriff’s office said that his deputies handled a few cars sliding off the road, but as of 1 p.m., there hadn’t been any serious accidents.

“For the most part, people are slowing down,” Berkler said.

Springfield police also reported only minor fender-benders.

Illinois State Police from Springfield’s District 9 reported 16 accidents between midnight and noon Saturday. There were no serious injuries, and most of the crashes were on interstates 72, 55 and 155.

Police continued taking accident reports into Saturday evening.

Sangamon County highway crews returned to the roadways about 6 p.m.

Springfield road crews were also out Saturday morning and evening.

Even before the latest round of snow and ice moved into Illinois, snowfall totals for January ranged from one to six inches in southern Illinois to 33.5 inches in Chicago. It was the third-snowiest January on record in Chicago through Thursday. Chicago records date to 1888.